A civil society group, Pan Yoruba National Alliance (PAYNA), yesterday urged non-Yoruba in Lagos State to respect its culture, norms and heritage to foster peaceful co-existence.
At a rally, the group said the assertion by some people that Lagos “is no man’s land” is false.
It said the state is a legacy of the Yoruba, who inhabited the land about 5,000 years ago.
“Telling the people that their land is no man’s land shows a lack of respect.
“This kind of pronouncement is capable of causing disharmony,if unchecked,” it said.
The group consists of Oodua Covenant Movement (OCM); Oodua National Initiative (ONI); Oodua Hunters; Oodua Agbekoya; Oodua Traditional Herbalists Association (OTHA); Yoruba Progressive Alliance (YOPA); Oodua Traders Union (OUT); Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) and South West Progressive Movement (SWPM).
PAYNA accused the Igbo of carrying out hate campaigns against the Yoruba.
SWPM National Coordinator Taiwo Ajayi said no ethnic group would take it kindly if its land is referred to as no man’s land.
“The Igbo will not take it kindly, if the Yoruba called Onitsha no man’s land as it rightfully belongs to them.
“Besides, the Hausa will certainly not agree that Kano is no man’s land.”
ONI National Officer Martins Adeleke said some people were offended because of the support the Southwest gave President Muhammadu Buhari during the March 28 election.
OLM’s spokesman Sunday Akinnuoye said: “We will not give in to any molestation by people we allowed to earn a living on our land.”